TMZ.com

Kim Kardashian's quest to become a single woman has become a reality because the judge has granted her request to end her marriage to Kanye West. Kim will hereinafter be known just as Kim Kardashian ... the West is gone.

Kim was on a video call for Wednesday's court hearing -- her lawyer, Laura Wasser was in court -- and Kanye was absent. Kanye's lawyer did not object to restoring Kim's single status, although his lawyer said he had 3 conditions -- 1. any right to get reimbursement of money that's supposed to be divided up will be preserved in case either of them dies ... the judge granted that condition.

There were 2 other conditions the judge rejected -- that Kim would not transfer any assets she had in trust, and if Kim remarries she would waive the "marital privilege." That privilege means a new spouse would not have to testify about communications he had with her. The judge said nope to that.

To close out the hearing, Kim answered a series of questions, known as the "prove up" which included, "Are there problems in your relationship?" and "Do you think your marriage can be saved with counseling?" Kim answered "yes" to the first and "no" to the other.

A source close to Kanye tells TMZ, he also wanted the divorce to be granted. He's now a single person as well.

TMZ broke the story, Kanye recently dropped his 4th divorce attorney, Chris Melcher ... we're told there was little communication between Kanye and Melcher, making the relationship extremely difficult. It's been just over a year since Kim filed for divorce. We're also told Melcher was whipsawed ... one day Kanye wanted the divorce, and the next day he wanted to fight for the marriage.

Kim's been asking the judge to restore her single status since December, when she stated in docs, "I very much desire to be divorced." She also said she'd asked Kanye to keep their divorce private, which he hadn't, and his social media posts had caused "emotional distress."

Kanye and his legal team had continued to resist, making arguments the couple's prenup should be presumed invalid and even calling into question whether Kanye actually wrote the nasty social media posts -- FYI, he claimed he hadn't been hacked.

Of course, Kim and her team felt like this was all a stalling tactic ... this as Kanye had continued his overtures in a bid to win her back, even if it meant attacking her and her new BF, Pete Davidson.

The tables have turned on 'Tinder Swindler' Simon Leviev ... he was bamboozled himself in an Instagram scam.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ … Simon was hit up last Thursday by a verified female on Instagram. She claimed she'd help Simon and GF Kate Konlin get verified on the app through her BF -- saying he worked at Meta, Mark Zuckerberg's tech company that owns IG.

The alleged swindlers went to great lengths to pull this off ... Simon Facetimed the BF, who was in a busy office -- appearing like he was at Meta, with employees walking around behind him.

The fake "Metamate" said the only way he could give him the blue check on his profile -- as well as delete the fake accounts under his name -- would be to offer up a big chunk of change ... $6,664. The payments were sent via PayPal through 2 separate transactions -- one for him and one for his GF.

Shortly after, Simon's manager found the deal suspicious and reached out to an actual team member at Meta, who told them they don't charge for verifications. Before anyone could call out the swindlers, they completely scrubbed themselves from the Internet -- including removal of their IG accounts ... letting the swindlers walk away with the cash.

Simon allegedly swindled countless women out of more than $10 million through Tinder ... ghosting them once he got what he wanted. Since then, he's had "enemies" after him -- most recently a criminal court complaint against him from the true Leviev family, which he has no real part in.

Kanye West is playing the game of musical chairs with his legal team once again ... dropping his divorce attorneys in the eleventh hour and just before a pivotal hearing with Kim.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us he recently fired his lawyer, Chris Melcher. We're told the relationship between Ye and Melcher had become extremely difficult, with little communication.

Our sources say at times, Kanye had expressed he just wanted to settle things with Kim ... and at others, he expressed a desire to put up a fight.

We're told Kanye's now hired attorney Samantha Spector, who recently represented Nicole Young in her divorce with Dr. Dre. Interestingly enough, Dre was repped by "Disso Queen" Laura Wasser in his divorce -- so once again, it'll be Spector and Wasser on either side.

As for Wednesday's hearing, it's expected the judge will rule to make Kim legally single. We're told it's "highly unlikely" Kanye will attend in person, but according to the court record, Kim will either call or video chat into the hearing.

If you're keeping track -- this is apparently Kanye's 4th attorney he's parted ways with since Kim filed for divorce in February 2021. In a rare, and public statement she made last month, asking Kanye to stop with the nasty posts about his family, Kim also mentioned, "Hopefully he can finally respond to the third attorney he has had in the last year to resolve any issues amicably."

Raymond Santana -- one of the wrongfully convicted Central Park Five -- has filed for divorce from his reality star wife ... and she's accusing him of being unfaithful.

Raymond filed divorce docs in Georgia, seeking to end his union with "Flavor of Love" star Deelishis, after only 20 months of marriage.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, the couple – who first met through Instagram in late 2019 and tied the knot six months later – separated Nov. 7, with Raymond claiming their marriage is "irretrievably broken with no hope of reconciliation."

And Deelishis seems to agree… because she went public on social media Tuesday, accusing Raymond of being a narcissist, liar and a cheat.

But it’s not all discord between the couple… they recently filed an agreement with the court to resolve most of the legal issues between them. For starters, they both agreed neither party would pay the other alimony.

We broke the story ... Raymond and Deelishis got engaged back in December 2019 after first meeting through Instagram.

Raymond and Deelishis tied the knot on June 6, 2020 in the middle of the pandemic ... but it's already over.

Kim Kardashian's divorce case will be front and center Wednesday as she asks a judge to formally restore her single status, and the wild card is Kanye West, whose lawyers have raised a weird issue about their prenup.

TMZ broke the story ... Kanye's lawyers filed legal docs claiming prenups in California after 2002 are presumed invalid. It's weird because Kanye himself has NEVER suggested their prenup -- which kept almost all their property separate during their marriage -- is anything other than valid.

As for prenups being presumed invalid ... that's not exactly true. The law says a prenup is presumed invalid IF one of the parties who signed it challenges its validity ... Kanye has not done that, so it's unclear why the lawyers are suggesting it.

What's more ... even if Kanye challenged the prenup, he'd have to show either it was not entered voluntarily or it was "unconscionable." Kanye had a lawyer represent him when the prenup was signed, so it's hard to imagine it wasn't voluntary. As for it being unconscionable, Kanye made a fortune during the marriage and all that money is his ... so this doesn't make sense either.

As for the argument Kanye's lawyers are making -- that his social media posts blasting Pete Davidson and Kim are hearsay -- Kanye himself has never denied posting. In fact, he's said the opposite -- that his account was not hacked. Besides, it's kinda irrelevant whether he posted or not ... Kim simply wants the divorce to become official and then work out custody and any property issues that remain.

Our sources say Kanye has not been working with his lawyers, other than to make his position clear he doesn't want a divorce, but the lawyers haven't really produced any evidence that would carry weight in tomorrow's hearing. And, we're told it's highly unlikely he'll show up for the hearing.

Jesse Williams and his ex-wife, Aryn Drake-Lee, have reached a child custody agreement -- one that allows for him to do a Broadway play, and also gives him veto power on COVID-19 issues for their 2 kids.

According to docs, the exes were in court last week when the judge signed off on a few custody modifications. Although Aryn and Jesse maintain shared legal custody ... the judge denied her request to reduce his physical time with the kids -- presumably because he's gonna be spending a lot of time in NYC.

The former "Grey's Anatomy" star was hanging at a Knicks game back in January, but he'll be working in the Big Apple soon ... starring in the Broadway production, "Take Me Out" from March thru June.

As a result, the judge is now giving Jesse 4 consecutive days with the children -- 8-year-old Sadie and 6-year-old Maceo -- in NYC each month, and 2 of those days can be weekends.

Talk about a sign of the times ... the agreement also addresses how they will handle COVID disputes. The judge granted Jesse "tie-breaking authority" for 2022 if, for some reason, he and Aryn can't agree on things like vaccinations or face masks for the kids.

One more thing ... no flip-flopping on parenting time for Jesse. At Aryn's request, the judge agreed the actor can't cancel and then "uncancel" his scheduled daddy time.

Hulk Hogan is turning the page after his second divorce, and his ex-wife is doing the same ... with a new set of wheels that were part of the deal, as they say, when they agreed to part ways.

The pro wrestling icon came to an agreement with Jennifer McDaniel when they finalized their divorce last year -- which flew under the radar until he announced it this week -- and one key point of negotiation was making sure JMD had a brand new ride.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Hulk and Jen's divorce settlement calls for HH to buy her a new car within 45 days, and guarantee she has to make zero payments on the vehicle.

The make and model aren't addressed in the paperwork, but a condition of the purchase is Hulk gets to keep the ride they'd shared during the marriage.

Other takeaways from the divorce docs ... Jen's keeping a property they bought together in Palm Isle, FL, and Hulk holds on to his Clearwater mansion.

As for alimony ... the docs say Hulk paid Jennifer a one-time lump sum of cash, but the amount isn't disclosed. There's a non-disparagement clause that prevents each of them from talking about the relationship without the other signing off.

One last thing ... it looks like Jen responded to his divorce petition the same day he filed it in October -- a sign this was all pretty amicable, and well-planned ahead of time.

Cindy Crawford has a stalker who flew thousands of miles to see her about a phantom child he says they share together ... so say cops who arrested the guy.

It's a crazy story ... a man from the UK flew to Cali and ended up on Cindy's doorstep Sunday ... to talk to her about "the kid" he said they had together.

We're told that he made his way onto the property and started banging on the door and windows ... all to get Cindy's attention.

Cindy was not home at the time ... instead, the man was greeted by cops -- who had been called there by security.

He tried explaining the purpose of his mission to cops, but it fell on deaf ears. The man was arrested and booked for felony stalking.

Simon Leviev -- AKA the "Tinder Swindler" -- is now in the crosshairs of the extremely wealthy diamond-titan family that he pretended to be a part of ... they've just filed a criminal court complaint against him.

Guy Ophir -- lawyer for the true Leviev family -- says charges were filed Monday morning in Israel against Simon, telling us justice must be served for the malice brought against the Leviev name.

The legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- outline the ways in which Simon allegedly took advantage of the family, including most notably changing his name from Shimon Yehuda Hayut to Simon Leviev to give the appearance of wealth ... Simon claimed to be a part of a wealthy family, with ties to the diamond industry.

Ophir tells TMZ ... according to Israel law, only the state can file criminal charges ... but there is an exception to the rule -- in cases of "Malice Defamation" like this one.

In these cases, the person that was hurt can file a private criminal charge and ask for criminal punishment. By using the Leviev family name, Ophir claims Simon committed malice defamation and malice invasion of privacy.

He says this is the first step in an "all-out legal war" that the family's instructed him to unleash against Simon and everyone that will join venture with him -- past, present and future.

Ophir mentions, "The Leviev family intend[s] to donate the money that they will receive to all the victims of his crimes."

Jonathan Rhys Meyers has cut a deal in his DUI case ... and he's going to get the same treatment as an average Joe -- no jail time, as long as he keeps his nose clean.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... the actor copped a plea deal and was sentenced to 1-year summary probation. He'll pay a $500 fine and must complete an alcohol ed and counseling program.

TMZ broke the story ... Jonathan was arrested for misdemeanor DUI back in November 2020, after cops said he crashed his car in Malibu.

JRM was eventually hit with 3 charges — 2 DUI-related charges and 1 for reckless driving. As part of the deal, he ended up pleading no contest to the reckless driving charge, and the other two charges were dropped.

Jonathan's struggled with substance abuse problems over the years, going to rehab several times.

Kanye West has just made it clear ... he's not gonna end his marriage without a fight, but the fight he's waging is, well, bizarre.

Kanye just filed legal docs ... trying to make his social media posts attacking Kim, Pete and others inadmissible in next week's hearing. As we reported, a judge will decide next week whether to restore Kim's single status.

Kanye's argument -- How does Kim really know he wrote those posts? His lawyer is arguing these social media posts are not only hearsay ... they're double hearsay!

Ye's lawyer says, "Kim claims she read something online allegedly by Kanye and characterizes the posts in her declaration as misinformation ... Kim needed to offer the social media posts into evidence, and show that the posts were written by Kanye."

The docs never say Kanye didn't write the posts ... just that Kim hasn't jumped through all the hoops.

But, that's not all ... Kanye's lawyer now says the prenup can't be viewed as valid, at least not now. Ye's attorney says there's a presumption in California that prenups signed after 2001 are invalid, and the only way they can be validated is either during a trial or if both parties agree. So, it seems Kanye is saying he hasn't agreed it's valid, so it can't be enforced until there's a full-blown trial, and that means a big delay.

What Kanye is doing is throwing up roadblocks to stop Kim from becoming single. He previously filed docs saying he would agree to it, but one of the conditions is that all assets be frozen for now. The thing is ... they have a prenup that makes all their property separate and Kim needs that money to run her businesses.

It's highly unlikely the judge will buy what Ye's lawyer is selling ... restoring single status is a routine procedure, and the very point is to separate division of assets from marital status.

Amanda Bynes has her parents' full support as she tries to end her conservatorship ... a move that's not inspired by Britney Spears -- instead, her attorney says it's all about Amanda putting in the work.

Amanda's repped by David A. Esquibias, and he tells us ... Amanda's move to pull the plug on her conservatorship is years in the making, starting long before the #FreeBritney movement grew vocal last year.

He says Amanda filing the legal docs a few months after Britney successfully ended her own conservatorship is purely coincidental, and adds she's never even mentioned Britney's battle.

Amanda's lawyer says her conservatorship was never meant to be in place for her entire life -- the goal was always for it to end -- and within the last 2 years, Amanda and her parents realized the significant progress she'd made in coping with bipolar disorder.

Amanda was placed under the conservatorship in 2013 following a string of bizarre episodes. She was temporarily committed to a psychiatric facility and once released, her parents started taking care of her.

We're told Amanda's gained important structure and support in her life through attending AA, and has been sober for 3 or 4 years.

She's also doing really well in classes -- almost straight A's -- at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising as she works toward a Bachelor's degree. We're told she's focused on using fashion as a creative outlet, and also wants to develop fragrances.

Interestingly, she's not mentioned anything about getting back into acting.

Amanda's lawyer says she's been working hard with her parents to reach the common goal of ending the conservatorship, and she's put in a lot of work and effort to get there.

As we've reported, this is significantly different from Britney. Sources directly connected to her conservatorship told TMZ ... they thought it would be in place for her lifetime, because they believed she couldn't safely care for herself and others.

Jussie Smollett wants a do-over in court, he's asking for a new trial in Chicago and taking issue with the initial jury selection process -- but he'd also willing to accept a not-guilty verdict.

The actor's defense team just filed new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, asking the judge to reverse the verdict and find him not guilty of disorderly conduct for faking a police report ... or at least give him a new trial.

Remember ...  a jury in Illinois decided Jussie was lying to cops about being the victim of a homophobic and racist attack. The jurors found the "Empire" actor guilty of 5 of the 6 felony counts against him, including disorderly conduct charges or allegedly providing a false report to cops.

In the docs, Jussie claims the court violated his constitutional rights when it prevented his defense team from actively participating in the jury selection process.

Jussie claims his lawyers were not allowed to ask questions of potential jurors ... and his defense claims the jury pool for the high-profile case was tainted.

He's also claiming prosecutors showed a pattern of racism in selecting jurors.

In the docs, Jussie's defense also claims the judge wrongfully barred the media and public from the courtroom ... and he says prosecutors pressured witnesses to give false testimony.

That's not all ... Jussie's legal team also says the judge wrongfully limited the defense questioning of witnesses.

Amanda Bynes just took a huge step on the path to personal freedom ... because she officially filed to pull the plug on her conservatorship. And, it doesn't seem coincidental she's doing it on the heels of Britney Spears ending hers.

The former child star filed docs in L.A. Wednesday to end her 9-year conservatorship.

Amanda was placed under the conservatorship back in 2013 following a string of bizarre episodes ... including when she soaked her dog in gasoline while setting a neighbor's driveway on fire, which shed light on some of her struggles with mental health. She was committed temporarily to a psychiatric facility and once released, was cared for by her parents.

Amanda's move to end the conservatorship is interesting ... as we reported back in September, a judge signed off to keep it in place until March 2023.

She's mostly been staying out of the spotlight, pursuing other interests besides acting, dabbling in rap music and pursuing a design career while getting engaged. She also got a degree from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, which certainly shows an ability to function.

There's definitely a movement to end conservatorships with young people where it runs indefinitely, so the judge's reaction will be both interesting and important.

The former police officers who stood by as George Floyd was being murdered by Derek Chauvin were just found guilty on all charges by a jury of their peers in their federal case.

Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane were convicted after a 12-person panel rendered their verdict following less than 2 full days of deliberations ... this after nearly a month-long trial.

The ex-cops were found guilty of all charges against them -- all 3 were facing a count of deprivation of rights under color of the law for failing to render medical aid to Floyd ... and Thao and Kueng were, additionally, hit with charges for failing to intervene in Chauvin's use of unreasonable force.

You might recall ... Lane was seen on camera at least trying to speak up about what was going on, asking if they should roll Floyd over -- only to be overruled by Chauvin.

As you know, Chauvin was convicted of murder last year ... and has since copped a plea on the federal charges he was also facing. Thao, Kueng and Lane aren't out of the woods yet either, BTW ... they have a state criminal trial later this year.

For this case, though ... Thao, Kueng, and Lane argued that they were deferring to Chauvin's seniority and experience in the situation ... and that they didn't intend for Floyd to die under the circumstances.

Kueng and Lane also tried to explain their behavior by pointing out how new they were to the Minneapolis PD force at that point -- each of them was just days into the job when the incident occurred in May 2020.

You'll recall ... Chauvin, Lane and Kueng held Floyd down -- with Chauvin pinning him at his neck. Thao was on crowd control behind the police vehicle.

As for what's on the table sentence-wise ... the men are facing the possibility of several years or even life in prison. The death penalty is technically possible given the charges, but prosecutors have given no indication they would seek it.

Jay-Z's pockets just got fatter after coming out on top in a 6-year legal war with Parlux ... the perfume company that sued him over his now-defunct fragrance.

Parlux had sued Jay in 2016, claiming he failed to hold up his end of the promotional bargain when they teamed up to launch his cologne, Gold Jay-Z. The company said the whole deal was a stinking disaster because the rapper refused to do media and public appearances to pump up sales when the fragrance dropped in 2013.

It was seeking $18 mil from Jay-Z, but now he's effectively turned the financial tables on Parlux. On Thursday, an appellate court ruled Jay is entitled to the $4.5 mil in royalties from past cologne sales which he had requested during the NYC trial last fall.

That jury said Mr. Carter didn't owe Parlux a dime, but also rejected his royalties demand. However, the appellate court overruled the jury decision, so ... big win for Jay-Z.

Jay-Z's attorney, Alex Spiro, declined to comment.